Enjoyed both of these the night before Falltacular along with some great steak, some other wines, and ever greater company!
1980 Franciscan Cabernet, Napa Valley
I did not have high hopes for this wine - not a ‘fantastic’ producer; not a ‘fantastic’ vintage. Upon first pour, the wine was really bricking around the edges and smelled somewhat oxidized. We didn’t decant but just allowed it to open slowly - and open it did! This was a wine that takes you back about 35 years to when California cabs were not all about fruit, but instead hit you with cigar box and cedar aromas with some fruit lurking. Not an earth shattering wine but well worth the rather inexpensive price of admission for sure!
2006 Copain Roussanne - James Berry Vineyard, Paso Robles
I know that Wells stopped working with fruit south of Sonoma IIRC starting in 2008 or 2009, but I gotta say - he killed it with the fruit from this vineyard year in and year out. This was a drop dead gorgeous wine. Showed a bit of reduction upon opening and for the first hour or so, but then opened up and offered up beautiful citrus and waxy aromas with unbelievable texture. Not refrigerated and served at room temperature, this wine just got better and better over a 3 hour or so period. Left a glass out overnight with a few ounces in it and tried it the next morning - even better! Richer, denser, but not lacking in aromatic complexity at all. Bravo!